Give the young ones a chance,as the coffin dodgers hold on their jobs,i have seen 18 year olds driving on International work in Turkish trucks,no sign of the two year rule in the UK.
I think the older drivers would agree in theory… BUT its just not affordable for the older drivers to leave the job, as they wont get enough pension, if any at all for leaving earlier. 
Also think the 2 Year rule ■■■■■, as it doesnt give any young drivers experience.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Gareth
Point taken. 
I know a few drivers in there 60’s they still have family at home & mortgage to pay if htey give up are you going to meet there short fall
This has been said before nice idea but if you dont use it you lose it
We could go back to the old days when employers employed drivers mate that is how the learnt & driver came into the industry so non of this 2 year thing
It has been posted on here that young Polish drivers go straight in to international work,without having to wait two years for the insurance purposes.
What do you consider the age threshold to be classed as a coffin dodger?
22
Ha Ha Ha
Good Reply!!!
I agree with the person who mentioned driver’s mates as a way to get into a job.
What if all journeys over, say 100 kilometres required a second driver on board in case the coffin dodger driver took ill during the journey? That might get a few young uns behind the wheel and let them have that valuable experience.
Unfortunately with the way the economy and the price of fuel are going, companies are trying to make as many miles out of as few drivers as they can.
Its a good question you present, if we dont give younger drivers a chance to get into the industry, then exactly who will drive goods around the country in 10 years time?
It needs a serious looking at.
Toby does have a point
The Govt have stopped compulsory retirement and put up the age of state retirement at a time when job opportunities are getting worse so logically that will mean more older people staying in jobs longer and the younger having less opportunities
The Govt cannot have it both ways but they keep telling us different
If all the older drivers leave the industry as they say they will as a result of the driver cpc, there’s going to be plenty of work for everyone else.
But don’t hold your breath. Pete 
Hi All…theres a strong argument to lowering the retirement age,not raising it!!!
Alot of workers[similar to myself] at 55+ would love to bin it,house paid for,kids flown the nest etc…dont need a massive amount of money to live reasonably…
Only had two weeks out of work in 40yrs so gov had its wack out of my wages…pension me off and a little extra for going early[say £175 a week total]
This would be offset by a young un taking my job whose currently amongst the 3million jobless,claiming for wife,couple of kids, rent etc [costing around £400 + a week if figures are to be believed]
This would free up spaces for young uns and give quality of life to old uns…seen too many grafters retire at 65 and dead by 67…sad but true
Saves £225 a week to goverment plus young un is back paying into the pot…seems like win win on both sides or am i missing something…too simple■■?
As for the two year rule…from what i ve seen with sonny jim its all down to the insurance companies,he heard it everywhere!!....the firm he now works for had to pay £750 extra to have him added to their policy...he has 12months under his belt...... Maybe the non-job centrecould make a contribution to the firm to help get aninexperienced` driver into full time employment and off their books…equivilent to two weeks benefit…seems like a bargain to me…or again too simple!!!
Surely the 2 year rule is mostly caused by insurance companies, with tight margins in haulage the additional fees charged make it difficult for a lot of companies to employ younger drivers.
I recently returned from 20 years living in the baltics where insurance is a lot cheaper than here. I had a 5.7l camaro that was costing £150/year fully comp and anyone could drive it as long as they had a license. Here I would be looking at £600+ just for myself to drive.
Maybe someone here would be able to tell us what insurance costs here for commercial vehicles.
I wish I could say that if I packed in my job there would be a queue of younger British lads waiting to jump into my shoes but there’s not. Most off if not all newcomers to the shipping industry are coming from Asia and the former communist block country’s. In some cases their standard of training which is supposed to be of the same quality as the British certification is sadly lacking.
I will hang on to my class 1 and seagoing ticket for as long as I’m fit and able to do either job and I in no way feel guilty about doing so whether it deprives a younger person of a job or not. No one is more entitled to work than any other at any age. Stuff that !
If i could find a full time job i’d like to retire
Hiya Raymundo.
Can you tell me more about a Seagoing ticket please.
What is one? Who needs one? How do you get one? How long does it last?
Do you get better jobs if you have one?
On a slightly similar subject, what are the regs about delivering to building sites? Do we need some sort of Building Industry induction course/certificate to drive on site?
Cheers Landylad
LandyLad,
There is no quick answer to your question or a quick route to obtaining any of the numerous required sections of training before getting your ‘drivers ticket’ unless you have a pocket full of dollars or Slottys, Roubles or whatever they use to the far east of Watford Gap and wish to buy a dodgy certificate from a so called reputable nautical training centre.
To get a paid cadetship from a British company is a difficult as finding a virgin in a whorehouse and you now need more qualifications than you can shake a stick at. Practical experience is nearly a thing of the past, if you can write it down on paper to the satisfaction of some non-seagoing examiner you’ve cracked it, but if the crap seriously hits the fan when you are the one in charge no bit of paper will get you out of trouble.
As is with the UK haulage industry its been allowed to degenerate into a farce within the ‘spirit of free competition’ and unfair trading conditions allowing SUB standard ships, SUB standard companies, SUB standard employees and their SUB standard ilk to ruin a once proud and well respected BRITISH industry.
We even have the MCA (an executive agency of the British Government) employing idiots/kids as ship inspectors coming on with a clip board to check all the numerous things are checked off as OK who have maybe done a few crossings on the Woolwhich ferry but have no seagoing experience, they recently let the Swanland sail (allegedly) with severe main deck corrosion, she then broke in half of the Anglesey coast with the loss of six crew.
Get a job stacking shelves at Tosco, much safer and better hourly pay 
PS. Have recently worked for one of the ‘waste of money windfarm companies’ and they said my basic sea survival certificate was not valid because it had all the different modules classed as one big pass on the one certificate whereas the new certs are in two parts, they said I must go back to college to gain the EXTRA bit of paper, I refuse to pay the course costs so ■■■■■■■■ to them. Mind you money was extremely good.
Off topic but I was asked the question here
LandyLad:
:?: What do you consider the age threshold to be classed as a coffin dodger?
Anyone who slags off the young for being too young 
Hiya Raymundo.
When I read your first post, I assumed that a seagoing ticket was something needed to accompany a wagon when abord a ship (ferry).
But from your reply I see that you are talking about Industry certification from perhaps the Dept. of Transport relating to Seafaring.
Were you a deckhand, Nav. Officer or Engineering Officer?
Who did you mostly sail with?
I used to sail with Hungry Harrisons as an Engineer down in the ratpit.
We mostly sailed out of Liverpool from Canada No.2 Dock to caribbean.
Mostly I sailed on diesels like Sulzers or Doxfords but some of my pals sailed on Steam - SS Politician if I remember correctly.
Cheers,
LandyLad
In my opinion (for what it’s worth),the goverment should be looking into(and do something about), why insurance companys are making this two year rule. I know this has been mentioned before in other posts 
Unfortunately many companies use it as an excuse if your face doesn’t fit. It’s not always down to the insurers. 